The Forgotten War
by Dewie112
Summary: An army has been created do war in the Ixaniad Sector of Segmentum Obscurus, This story focuses on the Guardsmen Marxius as he and his infantry regiment fight to the last man in the name of the Emperor. Note to Readers: Combat starts in chapter 3, and that's when the fun begins :)
1. The Painting

_Segmentum Obscurus 999.M41  
_

_Ixaniad Sector_

Little is known of the Ixaniad Sector, but the fact that the forces of Chaos have taken refuge there is all that matters, especially in the eyes of the Emperor.

"Trooper! State your name, rank, regiment, and company NOW!" The commissar screamed angrily.

"Frak" the trooper whispered to himself, "If I'm not careful I could get shot before I even land on the damn field…." He raised his voice loud enough for the commissar to hear "Corporal Marxius of the 12th Pontic Infantry, 3rd company Sir!"

"Well Marxius, why in the emperors name are you not with your unit?"

"Sir, I was looking for the chapel so I could say my daily prayers, but I can't find it."

The commissar seemed to contemplate his answer, you cannot penalize a man for wishing to pray to the emperor… but he is a commissar and they do like killing us troopers…

"The chapel is on the deck above us, get there and then hurry back to your unit boy. We will be arriving to our destination in the next few hours."

Marxius inwardly sighed with relief. "Yes sir!"

After Marxius had found the chapel and said his prayers he hastened back to his unit. But on his way there he stopped as he stared at one of the most beautiful pieces of art work he'd ever seen. It was a picture of a saint, she and her sisters were standing in a field, and underneath their boots lay the bodies of dead Tyranids. It was an impressive sight.

"Hey moron what are you staring at?"

He recognized that voice, so he turned around grinning stupidly

"Hey Vivian, I was staring at that painting there."

Vivian smiled at this "I always forget you wanted to be an artist."

"Well it's not like there's anything to paint back on our homeworld. Outside the Hive Cities there's nothing but glacier."

"Hey, there's a reason there are Hive Cities on Pontic Marxius. It's one of the few places where adamantium can be mined."  
"Oh trust me I know. My uncle owns the business that mines it all. If it wasn't for that Imperial Hive I'd still be working there. Thank the Emperor that I am here instead."

"Aye you're right; hopefully we can serve the Emperor by conquering this unnamed planet from the Archenemy."

This confused Marxius for a moment. "Wait, the planet is overrun by the forces of Chaos?"

Vivian let out a girlish giggle "Seriously Marxius, you need to learn to pay attention at the rallies. They are important."

With this they moved on towards the area where their unit, the 12th Pontic Infantry, was staying. Why was the Imperium throwing Guardsmen against the forces of Chaos? It's simple, the forces of Pontic are trained in one thing; How to destroy the forces of Chaos.


	2. The Landing

_Aboard the Battleship_ _Reminiscent Cathedral_

Marxius and his infantry regiment were ready for everything. They wished for nothing more than to cleanse the unnamed planet in the name of the God Emperor. But that time had not come yet, the smaller ships were sounding out scouting vessels to discover enemy locations.

"I'm tired of all this damned waiting!" Private Markus groaned. Oddly enough Markus had been serving the legion for 10 years and was still a private, apparently he had no leadership qualities what-so-ever… but as he was still alive he was handy in a firefight.

His train of thought broken by a stare from Vivian Marxius replied "I hear you Mark, but just enjoy this time while you still can. Soon we'll be eating military rations and drinking awful tasting recaf."

Markus laughed solemnly "That shit recaf keeps you on your toes boy; don't ever talk bad about the recaf!"

Just then their Sargent walked up "Alright troopers it's time to head to the Valkyries."

Vivian smiled and shouted "Aye! Aye! Sarge!"

Marxius laughed to himself, the Sarge was a newblood like himself, his semi rich father had bought him a position as a Lieutenant but when it was discovered he was an expert marksman, the general figured his talents were being wasted behind then lines and bumped him down to NCO.

"Marxius, you're my second in command understood?"

Marxius was taken aback. Why him?

"Uh yes sir! Thank you sir!"

"Don't thank me Marxius, because if I die you'll be filling out reports and leading this squad yourself." He laughed as he said this and showed a smile.

Sargent Tomas was a kind man, and it seems as if he holds no grudge against the officers for busting his rank.

Vivian let out a wink "Well, well well, look at that Marxius! The artist is now my second in command!"

Marxius laughed it off and began marching towards the Valkyries .

"YOU!"

Marxius turned and saw the Commissar from yesterday.

"Oh frak." He whispered to himself. "Yes sir?"

"You dropped this yesterday trooper, I should have you flogged for littering the Emperors holy ship. But I'll cut you some slack since we're about to fight in His holy name."

Marxius was astounded by what the Commissar handed him, It was pocket book of Litany's.

"Thank you very much sir I appreciate this very much."

"Not a problem corporal."

The commissar walked off, and Marxius never saw him again.

Aboard the Valkyrie Marxius took the time to look at his 12 man squad. They had all served together in battle before, except the Sarge. He was new, but he was trustworthy and capable. To his right was Vivian, and to the left was Markus. Directly in front of him sat Mikel, the squads Vox Operator. He noticed everyone carried better weaponry than the standard Imperial guard units. They all had Mars Pattern Lasrifles and the sarge carried his Family power sword. Marxius had always been a skilled swordsman, and he too had a power sword, but this one had been crafted by his friend the Magos back on Pontic.

Marxius looked at Mikel "Hey Mikel, have you ever wondered why we have better weapons than the rest of the regiment?"

Mikel answered immediately "Yeah I have, but hey who cares, they're obviously the things that allow us to outlast the rest. We've taken one casualty since we were put together and that was the sarge in the last campaign; While the rest of the regiment was slaughtered."

Marxius contemplated this, but before he could answer the doors opened and the men all rushed out.

The invasion had begun.

**That's the end of the second chapter! Now the fun begins! I will update this story once every day or two days. I promise :D! NOW REVIEW PLEASE!**


	3. The Nightmare

**Hey guys it's me, the Author! This is when the story gets exciting, the war and horror aspect are about to take place! Sorry about the first two chapters, they're there to set the plot! Alright ENJOY!**

_Invasion day one _

The minute the loading ramp dropped on the Valkyrie and Marxius stepped onto the planet, shots were fired. Crazed cultists with blood dripping from the eyes charged the offloading guardsmen firing wildly while screaming their foul chaos chants

"Marxius! We need to set up a firing line NOW!" Sgt Tomas wasted no time barking out orders and firing into the horde of cultists with his laspistol.

Marxius and the rest of the squad took cover and fired their lasrifles into the swarm over and over again but it seemed as if the filthy heretic's were endless.

One of the members of Marxius' squad yelled "GODDAMNIT I left my extra powercells back on the VTOL!"

Marxius laughed and shouted "Here take one of mine!"

"Thanks man!"

The fighting intensified; the only smell in the air was a mix of blood, sweat, and ozone. Just then Marxius noticed his lasrifle's powercell was empty. He quickly loaded another and aimed carefully at the head of one of the cultists, he pulled the trigger and the cultist beside him was splattered with the brains of his ally.

"Good shot Marxius, but don't let up!" Vivian shouted

He nodded and went back to firing his lasrifle while all around him he could hear the large roar of the mighty Basilisks firing into the swarm, and the screams of his fellow guardsmen. All of sudden the noises stopped.

"We did it Marxius! The cultists are retreating" Mikel was smiling as he said this.

"Yepp they are but those bastards deserve more than what we gave em. I hope we attack soon."

Marxius noticed Markus had joined the conversation and noticed the battle hungry look in his eyes.

"We will bring the Emperors divine justice upon them Markus don't worry."

Markus roared with laughter at this and replied "Aye, and when we do I'll kill all these filthy heretics."

Marxius decided to leave the conversation and look at the landing zone, dead guardsmen littered the ground and troops from the supply regiments were gathering up all the ammunition and weapons of the dead.

"I guess they don't need them anymore do the." Marxius thought to himself. "Don't worry brothers, we will avenge you."

Sgt Tomas was looking at him "Marxius, move out, our squad has been ordered to partake in the first attack."

Marxius smiled "Aye! Aye! Sir"

_Imperial Guard Headquarters_

"Sir!" the young lieutenant called out "the men are carrying out your orders and charging forward to attack the cultists."

This made General Arran Petronidik smile. "Good, were there any complaints from the men?" The General already knew the answer but he thought he should ask anyway..

"No sir none at all. They are ready to kill the vile heretics in the name of the Emperor."

"Good. You are dismissed lieutenant."

"Aye sir."

_Frontlines_

"ALRIGHT GET OUT OF MY FUCKIN APC AND GET INTO THE FIGHT!" The Chimera driver yelled.

Sgt Tomas shouted "Alright men you heard him, CHARGE!"

And down the ramp they went, with their lasrifles firing at the enemy. Marxius noticed that the Chimera had already slaughtered a dozen cultists. Marxius took the time to thank the Emperor for tanks.

Markus was pointing at Marxius "GET YER HEAD OUT OF YOUR ASS AND FIRE THAT WEAPON BOY!"

Marxius complied and began to fire into the cultists. But before too long the firefight turned into a gory mess. The cultists had managed to get in close and turned this into a melee.

"Marxius, use your power sword!"

Marxius had completely forgot. He took his sword and charged forward, he parried an attack from a cultist and used his momentum to quickly decapitate the heretic, and turned just in time to stop a cultist from stabbing him in the gut. In return he threw the cultist on the ground and jammed his blade through the gut of the traitor causing the bastards blood to saturate the ground and make it even more hazardous. As he turned to attack another enemy he saw a cultist charging the APC with what seemed to be a krak grenade of some sorts.

"NO! The Chime.."

Before Marxius could finished Markus tackled the cultist into the nearest trench which was followed by an explosion.

"MARKUS!" Marxius roared in anger and rushed towards the trench, only to see the bloody remains of Markus and the dead cultist. The death of his friend brought Marxius' fury to full force. He charged into the mass of cultists and started to hack with his power sword at anything that resembled a heretic. The ground was littered with the bodies and limbs of cultists and guardsmen alike. The rivers of blood and guts forming were beginning to smell, which was only made worse by the added scent of ozone.

"Marxius!" Vivian was shouting his name "Hey Marxius!"

He calmed down at the sight of Vivian "Whatsup?"

"Have you seen Markus?"

Marxius became downcast at the question and looked back at the trench where Markus' mutilated body was.

Vivian realized immediately "I'm sorry Marxius."

He looked at her and smiled "It's okay, I still have you don't I?"

She look shocked at this response but shook it off and smiled "Yeah Marxius, you still have me."

"Alright troopers! Back into the APC we're heading back to take a break." Sgt Tomas roared.

Marxius walked over to Markus' corpse and grabbed his dog tags. "I'll be seein ya old man. You're where you belong, at the Emperor's side."

With that he walked back to the APC

_Two hours later back at the base_

Marxius yawned it had been a long day, and if this is how the first day of the invasion went then many more are sure to follow.

"Hey Marxius you look exhausted why don't you get some shut eye?" Vivian said while laughing at his plight.

"Wha bout you?" he said stifling another yawn

"Naw you kidding me? I'm wide awake. Get some sleep wuss."

Marxius laughed the insult off and went to sleep.

_Marxius_

"Who's there?!"

_You will bring about their deaths Marxius_

"What are you talking about?!"

Suddenly Marxius was floating above the ridge where the Imperial Guard had set up their base camp. But it was different…

"Oh my god"

_Now you seeeeee you will bring about their deaths. You will betray them all._

All Marxius could see were the mutilated bodies of his fellow guardsmen. Blood covered the ground and walls of buildings. The cultists had set up sacrificial alters in the center of the camp and on it lay Vivian.

"VIVIAN! Damn you! What are you doing to her?" Marxius was screaming at the voice

_Seeee for yourself mortal_

On the pedestal lay Vivian bare and exposed to the elements. She was screaming in pain as the Cultists carved heretical runes into her skin.

"Stop this please! I beg of you! Kill me!"

But they didn't stop, they continued to torture her, and when Marxius thought that he could take no more, he saw the cultist carving into her skin…

It was him.

**What did you guys think? Chapter four next, it's going to be much more action packed then this one, but as you can see the horror aspect is starting to take effect. ALSO For people with accounts if you review I will begin answering questions before every chapter, and if I like your review or question I will PM you and allow you to create and OC and I'll kill him off in some cool way! Thanks for reading! :D**


	4. The Mission

**Alright guys Chapter 4! ^_^ I hope you guys enjoy reading this as much as I enjoy writing it. I'm an AVID Warhammer 40k fan. But also a college student! I use my breaks in between classes to brainstorm idea's for new chapters so I can just come home and type em up for you :D**

**Quote of the Day: "**_**Death is nothing, but to live defeated and inglorious is to die daily"- Napoleon Bonaparte **_

_Planetary Invasion Day 2: Dawn_

Marxius awoke with with a yell covered in a cold sweat made worse by the cold breeze blowing across the bleak deserted hills.

Suddenly awakened Vivian looked at Marxius worriedly. "Marxius are you okay?"

He looked at her, with tears slowly pouring down his face making their way through the dried dirt and blood on his face. "Yeah, just a nightmare."

"Don't worry Marxius, the first battle is always the hardest, it'll get easier, I promise." She gave him a gentle smile and went back to sleep.

Marxius never realized how truly beautiful Vivian was until that moment. "Thank you Vivian"

He didn't have the heart to tell her about the nightmare.

_Somewhere about 15 miles northeast of the main camp_

The General had demanded a scouting mission, but there was nothing out here. All that could be seen for miles where the dark grey hills that made up the barren planet. The planet seemed to have a completely stable atmosphere which suggested that just this part of the planet was barren.

"Hey Dennen, what the hell are we looking for?"

Dennen took a minute to contemplate this question because he himself was not sure. He didn't see anything at all. He had been a scout for 20 years in this refinement, and this was the first time he had never been sure of his orders.

"I have no clue Kafka but just keep your eyes peeled. At any moment these blasted heretics could pop up."

Dennen waited a few minutes for a response but he grew tired of waiting and turned around.

"Kafka did you hea- WHAT THE FUCK?"

There lay his entire squad all mutilated, their weapons on the ground and he had no idea what was going on. Was the prolonged exposure to these Warp infested bastards starting to get to him or were they really dead?

"Kafka… answer me.. that's an order"

That's when he saw it. The Daemon stood there staring at him, with its pitch black eyes and pointed teeth. The beast was covered in the blood of Dennen's squadmates, but oddly enough he looked sorrowful at what it'd done. This piqued Dennen's interest but he was too scared to say anything. The beast just kept on staring at Dennen as it slowly inched forward, until it was standing directly in front of him looking down at him.

"The Emperor protects me" Dennen said steadfastly.

"_Your corpse god has no power here human. You and your comrades will all suffer the same fate, death, and it will be I who shepherds your pitiful souls to the Lord of Pleasure."_

"We will not falter, our faith is strong." Dennen whispered, knowing this was the end, and he dropped the homing beacon on the ground amongst the sand of the wasteland.

"_Your faith is wasted human."_

And with those words the Daemon stabbed Dennen in the left eye, causing blood to seep from eyes and mouth. As his lifeless body slumped to the ground the Daemon let out a laugh of sheer joy.

_Back at base_

After his nightmare Marxius could not fall back asleep. Instead he lay on his cot inside the hastily erected barracks. The walls and floor were solid Rockcrete and the only current light was the candle that was lit beside his cot.He looked at the picture of his family back on Pontic. His Mother and Father and two sisters were all probably eating supper at the moment, while here he was, waiting for the company commissar to awake them. As his thoughts drifted off towards happier times Vivian lay awake staring at Marxius.

She had liked Marxius since his first day in the unit, he was polite and kind, but also a tough soldier; Even if he was from one of the richer families back on Pontic.

"You'll see them again Marxius. I promise" She gave him a gentle smile as he looked over at her.

"Thank you Vivian." He smiled back and began to think about the nightmare again. It was something that he did not want to think about.

"Alright troopers wake up, head over to the chapel and say your prayers with the priest and take this time to eat a meal. Your squad has been selected to go find a missing scouting team." The commissar yelled from the open doorway.

Sgt Tomas stood up immediately and began waking up the rest of the men who had slept through the Commissars loud obnoxious voice. Marxius sat up and started strapping on his boots. He was fine physically but after the nightmare he was mentally exhausted.

Mikel looked at Marxius and said "Hey man, don't worry. We got an easy job today, no frontal assaults or anything, it's a scrub mission."

Marxius looked at Mikel and smiled "Thanks buddy, but I'm alright. I just didn't sleep well."

Mikel nodded his head as if he had expected that answer "Yeah the first battle is always the worst. You'll be fine from now on."

Odd, Vivian had same the same exact thing. Maybe it was true; maybe the nightmare was just from the fact that he was scared. He decided that must have been what it was and cheered himself up.

_1 hour later_

The ride in the APC had been quiet. Nobody really wanted to talk, and with Markus gone it's not like there was any humor left. Markus had been around since the squads' formation, and he was killed in the first day of the invasion. Many of the men took this a bad omen, but Marxius did not. In his mind everyone had a purpose, a destiny, given to him by the Emperor. Markus' was to sacrifice himself so to save the APC, which in turn saved the whole squad. He had survived ten harsh years of fighting waiting for that moment to happen. At least that's what Marxius told himself. He had always wondered what his own purpose was, he always thought it was to paint beautiful works of art, but in the end the Elite Tithe had thrown that theory out the window. However, Marxius' faith in the Emperor would never falter.

Sgt Tomas barked an order "Alright men, spread out. Keep your eyes peeled for any signs of the lost squad."

Vivian yelled "Sir, there's a beacon appearing on the auspex. It's coming two miles due north of us."

"Good work Vivian! Alright men let's move out!"

Most normal people would whine about marching two miles over rough terrain, hell most normal Imperial Guardsmen would whine about it. But these men knew the importance of their mission, and nothing would stop them.

"Hey Mikel, have you picked up any chatter on the vox caster?"

Mikel looked at Marxius and smiled, Marxius had never realized the huge scar just above his lip…

"Nothing unusual, but I did learn that we're fighting a very specific and powerful traitor legion."

This piqued everyone in the squads' interest. They all stopped and looked at Mikel longing for the answer.

"Who?" Vivian asked.

"The Emperor's Children. You know the ones that have like black and purple and before the Great Crusade and were obsessed with beauty and perfection."

Everyone was silent; The Emperor's Children were a notorious Traitor Legion that everyone on Pontic knew about, because the Emperor's Children were the ones who conquered Pontic in the name of the Emperor during the Great Crusade.

Marxius was the first to speak "As long as Fulgrim doesn't come to lead them, we have a chance of defeating them. C'mon we should keep moving."

With that the conversation died down and they continued their march. However Marxius could not stop thinking about the Emperor's Children. It's ironic that first engagement that he is part of is against the legion that liberated his planet and brought it under the divine Emperor's banner. Oh well, he would show no quarter to the vile traitors.

"Sir, the beacon just went offline."

Sgt Tomas stopped and said quietly "Hold on men… what is that sound.."

Then's when the bullets started flying, one hit a trooper right next to Marxius dead in the face covering him in the brains and gore of his squad mate. The squad took cover and started to return fire toward the heretics, which turned out to be a squad of Chaos Space Marines.

"Sir, we need support we cannot fight them alone!" Vivian yelled

Sgt Tomas nodded and looked at Mikel "If they have Marines here that means cultists are on the way. Call for support NOW."

"Yes sgt!"

"The rest of you cover him!"

And with that all they did was return fire and try to stay alive, but against such powerful foes, there was not much they could do. The squads' grenadiers had been cut down within moments they were now down to 8 men. Marxius knew that unless they had heavy weapons they'd be doomed, so he sprinted for one of the dead guardsmen's grenade launchers and then fired directly in the middle of the Chaos Marines. The sight was glorious, he saw one of them blown into bits showering the other 3 in blood and viscera, while another lost his legs. He saw the remaining Marines fall back behind better cover and then a stalemate ensued.

"That was quick thinking Marxius, good job." Vivian gave him a little wink and laughed.

Mikel joined in on the fun "Aye it was, good work newblood, oh and sgt, Command sent the rest of the platoon our way with a Leman Russ as back up."

This brought a smile to everyone's face, the Leman Russ was the true might of the Imperial Guard and it would bring down the Emperor's righteous fury on these traitors.

_Imperial Guard Headquarters_

After reading the information on the data tablet in front of him, the General realized they were going to be here much longer than he originally thought, possibly years; all because these Chaos scum had to open a warp portal. Of course nobody would've known if that damned pysker had not screamed about demons and then just dropped dead. Now he was getting reports from all over the front that mutants and daemons were slaughtering whole platoons.

"Goddamn, If I'm not careful the inquisition wil-"

"What do you mean if you are not careful?"

The general looked up and standing in front of his desk was an Imperial Inquisitor of the _Ordo Hereticus _

_Back at the Front_

The reinforcements arrived just in time, because as soon as they arrived Cultists began charging forward. With precision the guaedsmen fired volley after volley off lasfire into the cultists doing their best to kill as many as possible before the inevitable ensued. At this moment Marxius knew that soon things were going to get much worse, but he kept his mouth shut and fired his weapon again and again, blasting holes in the charging cultists. Marxius noticed an armour clad man in the lines figured he was the leader of the rabble, and targeted him. He fired a well-placed Lasbolt dead on his chest but it just seemed to absorb the shot. The armoured man noticed the shot to his chest and began firing at Marxius. Marxius just decided to go on full auto and fire away on the man, and finally after a 15 second burst of continuous fire the powercell was drained, and the armour clad man dropped to ground dead.

"Next time just keep shooting the helmet, it's the weak point in their Power Armour."

Marxius looked over and saw a random trooper from another squad firing at the cultists taking cover next to him

"Thanks for the advice."

"Don't mention it."

Seconds later those same troopers' brains exploded and for the second time of the day Marxius was covered in gore and sitting in the viscera of a comrade. Just when he thought it could not get any worse, a Defiler came charging forward, luckily it seemed as if the cannon was out of commission, but this sight completely decimated any semblance of morale that was left. But luckily before they could turn to flee, the Leman Russ, also accompanied by a whole other platoon, came onto the scene. A deafening cheer was let out by the men and they returned to the fight.

_Aboard the Leman Russ battle tank Spear of Pontic_

"Alright sgt load that shell and prepare to fire on the Defiler!"

"Aye sir!"

The heavy bolters were already firing at the mass of cultists ripping them to shreds, sending amputated limbs in the air and soaking the ground in blood and guts.

"Shell loaded sir!"

"FIRE!"

From his position outside the tank, Tank Commander Mikolvich saw the shell hit the Defiler in direct center mass.

"LOAD" he yelled once more. If they could get another hit like that, that Defiler was sure as hell done for.

"Ready to fire sir!"

"FIRE!"

_Back at Marxius' position_

Marxius saw the second round from the _Spear of Pontic_ connect with the Defiler and within seconds a chain reaction of explosions commenced, incinerating dozens of cultists. This seemed to throw off their momentum and the Guardsmen thought they had beaten them once again and were already cheering, however this was not the case.

"Sgt the auspex just picked up a massive signal, it's disrupting everything else."

"In the name of the Emperor wha-"

Then out of seemingly nowhere a giant creature with dozens of weapons appeared behind the Guardsmen's lines and fired at the Leman Russ, destroying it, and killing everyone aside.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?" Vivian was shouting

"I don't know but fire on that son-of-a-bitch!"

Marxius remembered his grandfather telling stories about his battles with Chaos and remembered what this foul abomination was called.

"It's called an Obliterator. " Marxius yelled, and instead of waiting for a response he began to fire on the massive daemon praying to the Emperor that their lasrifles were having some effect on the giant beast. Suddenly Marxius noticed a Marauder class bomber flying overhead as it fired a salvo into the Obliterator. Marxius looked over at Mikael who was smiling and winked at him. The clever bastard must have called in air support.

"Good thinking Mikael." Marxius yelled

"Yeah I know, figured since we were given permission to call it in, why not use it."

Marxius realized he should really start paying attention to briefings more often, because he had no idea Air Support was along on this mission. Before the men could stop to take a break Marxius turned around in time to stop a wounded cultist from stabbing him in the back.

"DIE HERETIC!" he screamed as he jammed his bayonet into the bastard's chest. The cultist looked at him and spit warm blood all over his face and whispered

"Marxius, you will betray them, you will lead your friends to their deaths, and the Emperor will abandon you." When he finished the cultist's corpse slumped to the ground and Marxius was left speechless. How did that bastard know his name? How is it possible that this cultist knew about his dream?

Vivian ran over and asked "Marxius are you alright? I saw what happened, that bastard snuck right up on you."

He smiled; he always smiled when he saw Vivian. "Yeah I'm fine, thanks."

She laughed, by the Emperor she had a beautiful laugh, "Good, alright we've been ordered back to base, they're sending the Valkyries to pick us up."

Marxius let a sigh of relief "Thank the Emperor, I guess we should get a move on huh?"

With that they joined the rest of the squad on their march toward the pick-up zone, when Marxius noticed something; Vivian had her arm around his. He looked down at her smiled, because even here in, in the very mouths of hell, a man could still find Love.

_Imperial Guard HQ_

The Inquisitor had demanded every bit of information pertaining to the Campaign and then decided he was in charge. He told the General if he disagreed he would be shot for Heresy, and honestly the General did not mind. He would rather be in the fight with his troopers then sitting inside reading reports and filling out forms all day anyway.

"Lord Daerius, since you've taken command, does this mean I am granted permission to fight with my men?"

The inquisitor looked up at him and smiled "It is always good to see a man willing to die for the Emperor. You may, but be forewarned General, there are Daemons here on this world that will slaughter entire regiments before going down."

The General replied with a nod and exited the command post.

Excellent, now that he had control of this operation he could begin his mission of finding the trooper called Marxius.

_Back at the Imperial Guard barracks _

Sgt Tomas turned and quietly said "Alright squad, we lost a lot of good men today. Tomorrow we'll be taking in replacements, but for now, it's just the four of us."

Marxius could hardly believe it. Two days into the invasion and his squad was already decimated. I guess this made him a Veteran along with Sgt. Marxius turned and looked at Vivian and Mikel, the other two remaining members and smiled. "Alright guys I'm going to get some sleep, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Night Marxius" Vivian said with an unusually happy tone.

"Yeah night mate." Mikel grunted.

Odd, he didn't call me newblood. Maybe it's because he survived when everyone else had not. Instead of worrying about it, he decided to get some sleep.

_Marxius_

'Hello?'

_Marxius, for many years you have wondered what your purpose was, and now I am going to tell you._

'How did you know that? Who are you?' Marxius recognized the voice but he could not place the face. Suddenly a man in simple brown robes with the Imperial Aquilia emblazoned upon them appeared.

_Do you remember the commissar from the ship Marxius? The one who returned your book?_

All of a sudden Marxius remembered and shouted 'IT WAS YOU!'

_Yes lad, it was me, I can take on any form to speak with you, for only you can see me._

'This doesn't make any sense how can I be the only one that see's you? Who are you?'

_Marxius, I am the spirit of Malcador the Sigillite. I served the Emperor during the Great Crusade, and he has once again called upon me._

This was a lot to take in. Malcador was one of the most important men in Imperium history, and he was speaking to him.

_I know this must seem confusing to you, for you are young, but the Emperor has a task for you; the task for which you born for._

'I await your orders my lord.'

_Malcador smiled, these are not orders Marxius, this is simply your destiny._

'Tell me what I must do.'

_You must free the Primarch Fulgrim._

**Alright everybody that was chapter four, the chapters are probably all going to start being this long. I decided to release this one early in honor of the Pirates first Post Season win in 21 years! GO BUCS! As always reviews are appreciated. :D**


	5. Skill with a Blade

**Alright guys, here's chapter 5. The horror aspect is about to be involved soon, and in my opinion you can't really talk about the Chaos Marines without horror aspects. Also, you may notice my writing style start to slowly change throughout the next couple chapters. Somebody who reviewed the story said I needed more descriptive paragraphs and he's right. ALRIGHTY! With that let us begin :D!  
**

**Quote of the Day: It is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both. – Niccolo Machiavelli **

'What? You want me to rescue one of the greatest betrayers in Imperial history? How do I know you're not some Daemon pretending to be Malca-'

_I understand your apprehension Marxius but what I am about to share with you is not common knowledge._

'What do you mean?'

Marxius knew that this apparition was indeed Malcador, he just knew. He didn't give him the same feeling the Daemon from his nightmare had given him. He couldn't lie, he was truly curious as to what Malcador was about to tell him.

_After the Emperor's Children liberated your homeworld of Pontic, Fulgrim led his men to a new planet called Laeran where he fought with an unknown xenos species. This species worshipped the chaos god Slaneesh, the Lord of Pleasure. While he was there he found a sword which was simply known as "Blade of the Laer". This sword housed the Daemon Prince of Slaneesh and the minute he picked up the blade, it began corrupting him. Over the course of a few months the Daemon in the blade had completely warped Fulgrim's mind. _

This information was all new to Marxius, he had always learned that Fulgrim was a vile traitor, not a man who made the mistake of picking up a Daemon possessed weapon and losing control of his actions.

'So you want me to separate the Daemon Prince from the sword and release Fulgrim?'

_You are close, but you see, it is not that simple. During the dropsite massacre of Istvaan V Fulgrim killed his brother, and greatest friend, Ferrus Manus; the Primarch of the Iron Hand's space marine legion. After he struck down his friend Fulgrim realized what he had done and cried out to his father the Emperor for forgiveness but it was too late. The Daemon inside the blade manifested and took complete control of Fulgrim's body, turning him into a Daemon Prince and pushing Fulgrim's soul down into the pit of his mind. There Fulgrim lays trapped, screaming to be released so that he may earn his father's forgiveness._

Marxius was dumbfounded; he had never known the true, and very tragic, story behind Fulgrim. Marxiuswas adherent in his faith to the Emperor, and if this was asked of him, he would complete this task, even though it would surely end in his death.

'So what must I do to free Fulgrim Malcador?'

_You must meet with a man named Daerius, he is an Imperial Inquisitor and he is here on this world with you. With him is a female Pysker, her name is Airika, and only she has the power to strip the Daemon out of Fulgrim._

'If Airika and Daerius are going to be doing all the work, what good am I? I'm just a lowly Guardsman.'

_The Emperor works in mysterious ways Marxius, your path shall be revealed to you soon. Just do as I have instructed._

Marxius opened his eyes slowly. He now knew his purpose, and no one was going to stop him. No matter the cost. Suddenly the door slammed open and the Commissar yelled "WAKE YOUR ASSES UP THE CAMPS UNDER ATTACK."

The other three troopers in the room awoke and rapidly threw on their gear, grabbed their lasrifles, and sprinted out the door. Vivian was the first to speak.

"I really hope we don't have to fight another one of those Obliterators, if hadn't been for that air strike we'd all be dead."

Mikel laughed half-heartedly "I'm sure this time if one shows up it'll be much different, they're fighting on our ground now, and on that ground is the thousands of Imperial Guard tanks and artillery pieces."

"Cut the chatter and focus on the fight, I don't want to lose even more men under my command" Sgt Tomas yelled angrily.

Marxius knew that he needed to find the Inquisitor that Malcador had told him about, but he couldn't just abandon his friends in the middle of a firefight. Before Marxius could finish contemplating leaving his friends to search for the Inquisitor, Cultists and Chaos Marines began converging on their position. Marxius decided that if he took out the cultists first that would make killing off the marines easier. So with that thought in mind he put the butt of his lasrifle to his shoulder and pulled the trigger, he braced himself for the slight jerk of the superheated ozone fueled blast and thanked the Emperor for the tinted goggles he was wearing, which made the blinding strobe of light, a little less blinding. Shot after shot was fired from Marxius' weapon, each hitting their mark and killing their intended targets with ease. Sadly the wave of cultists managed to break through the fire to get into a close fight, which was made even more terrifying due to the chain-axe wielding marine's presence. One of these marines rushed towards Marxius who managed to roll out of the way in time, but this was no crazed cultist, this was a warrior who had been killing for centuries. The huge marine pivoted and turned and brought his axe down on Marxius' head, but he was lucky enough to bring his lasrifle up just in time to stop the blow from killing. His rifle destroyed; he through its pieces to the ground and drew his power sword. This brought an evil sounding chuckle from the marine.

"Face me boy, so that I may send you screaming to your death."

With that Marxius charged towards his opponent and lunged at him, only to have his strike miss as the huge man rolled out of the way. Marxius realized he was going to have to go on the defensive because this vile heretic was obviously the more skilled of the two in melee combat. The two walked in circles for what seemed an eternity, but within an instant the Marine charged, Marxius used this as his chance to throw himself on one knee and jam his power sword through the chaos marine's throat. He heard what seemed to be a gurgling sound as the marine fell lifelessly to the ground. Marxius pulled his blade out and the blood from the marine was disintegrated with a sizzling sound.

"Marxius!" Vivian yelled as she threw him a lasrifle "There's another wave coming!"

Marxius proceeded to rush up to the front and began firing his weapon into the crowd of cultists.

_Headquarters_

"Airika, have you located Marxius yet?" The inquisitor was growing impatient.

"No I have no- wait, there he is. He's in the firing line on the east end of the encampment, near the chapel."

It figures that the one man he needed to find would be at the point furthest from where he was.

"Alright, I'll retrieve him myself; you stay here, and stay safe."

"Yes my lord."

_Firing Line; Invasion day 3, four hours since the attack_

All Marxius could do was stare in disbelief at the field in front of him. The corpses of thousands of cultists littered the ground. With the stench of ozone and rotting flesh on the air, it was all Marxius could do to keep from vomiting. How many more times would he get lucky and survive an engagement like this? If the mission to rescue Fulgrim didn't kill him then surely one of these blasted cultists would.

Marxius turned around to see a man walking up to him. He had Power Armour and a long cape attached to it on.

The man came up to him and asked "Are Corporal Marxius of the 12th Pontic Infantry?"

Marxius was stunned, how did this man know his name? Unless….

"I am indeed, are Inquisitor Daerius?"

This brought an unexpected smile to the man's face. "Ah excellent, it seems you already know why I am here. Please come with me, oh bring along one of your squadmates, we need an extra trooper."

Marxius turned around and yelled "Vivian, will you come with me?"

She smiled and gave a stern nod, as she stood and picked up here lasfifle. They waved to Sgt Tomas and Mikel praying to the God-Emperor that they'd see them again.

**Alright guys that's chapter four. Chapter five is when the scary stuff starts to happen. Also, if any of you would like to volunteer to beta read the next chapters PM me, because I'd appreciate any help to make this story even better for you guys :3**


	6. Airika's Past

**Alright guys it's time for Chapter 6! I'd like to give a shout out to BIBOTOT, the user who has reviewed my story twice now. The user gave me advice on how to make the story better and I really appreciate it! This chapter is going to be a little different, you'll see how. I hope you enjoy it! :D**

**Quote of the Day: "****Give me a gun, a google-eyed alien to shoot it at, and I'll die a happy man." – Guardsman Franx**

Airika had always been nervous in large crowds. When she was a little girl on the planet Cadia, her homeworld, she always feared an invasion from the Eye of Terror, but not for the same reason as other people, she just didn't want to be locked in the house with her family. She couldn't take it. The thought of being locked in a small hab with her mother, father, two brothers, and sister made her squirm uncomfortably. The newcomer, Marxius, looked at her and asked;

"Are you alright?" he seemed genuinely worried, which was a first. Most people didn't care how she felt, maybe because she was a sanctioned pysker. She gave him an appreciative look and nodded.

"I'm fine, do not worry about me. How are you Marxius? Are you handling your first tour well?" Airika decided that if she should drop hints that she could his mind by asking him this. The idiot didn't seem to catch on when he answered.

"I'm handling better than most would I think. Vivian's really helped me progress as a soldier."

Airika looked at the woman that Marxius called 'Vivian'. She seemed too beautiful to be in the Guard, but Airika thought every woman who wasn't her was pretty, though she herself was quite attractive, she always told herself that she was a horror to look at.

"Is that right? Good for you." Airika didn't mean to sound rude; she just wasn't accustomed to conversing with other people. She preferred her books, and reading the thoughts of others.

Marxius seemed a little hurt at her lack of she noticed that he looked down at the ground. For the first time ever she felt an emotion in the back of her mind… guilt.

"I'm sorry Marxius" she said "I'm just not very good at speaking to other people." She hoped he wouldn't ask any questions but she could sense what was about to be asked…

"Why not?"

"Because I'm a pysker and no one likes talking to a pysker. We're a tolerable nuisance in many people's eyes. If they only knew all the work we did for them."

"You're a pysker?" He looked very interested "That's amazing! I've never met a pysker. Is it true you can read people's minds?"

Airika let out a girlish giggle "Yes I can, not every pysker has that power, but I do." She looked at her novel and decided to put it away. "It's a curse really. I always hear the mean things people want to say to me, but don't, because they're afraid I'll make their head explode."

Now that she thought about it, other than inquisitor Daerius, Marxius was the first person to be genuinely nice to her. However, Daerius was only nice to her, because he had to be, Marxius chose to be nice to her. She began to think about the people who had finally made her decide to become one of the dreaded Sanctioned Pyskers.

_10 years prior, Kasr Vitoken_

She opened her eyes after another sleepless night, the nightmares were getting worse. She was starting to awake with nothing but feelings of sharp pains. She looked at her home, a hole under one of the many clubs. She had learned to pacify and live with the rats that had already occupied the hole when she arrived. She had given them all names; after all they were her only friends.

She smiled at the rat walking past her "Hi Tikel."

Airika laid back against the rockrete beam in the hole she called home trying to fight back the stabbing hunger in her stomach. She hadn't eaten in three days, and was beginning to feel weak. She knew she should go out and get food, but she was afraid of the people, and what they'd do if they saw her. She looked at a ripped photograph that she had taped to the wall remembering her family;

"Daddy!" She sprinted towards her father as he entered the room.

He looked down at her and smiled "Hey there Airika! How was your day?"  
"It was good; we went to the church today and learned about the Primarchs today." As she uttered the final words of her sentence there was a banging at the door.

"RELINQUISH THE GIRL HERETIC."

Airika's father turned around and stared at the door, awaiting the inevitable. With a crash the door slammed open, and a bear of a man wearing shining armour and charcoal black hair was standing in the doorway with at least a dozen PDF troopers. Airika's father looked at her and screamed;

"RUN!"

Airika tried to run but was grabbed by the black haired man. He gave her a stern, and very harsh, look as if he was telling to stand still. As the man looked up, he pulled out his bolt pistol and fired a round at Airika's father; Airika looked on horror as the shell made impact with her head.

"NO!" she tried to break free of the man's grip but was stopped without so much as a second thought from the big man and thrown to ground with a slight movement with his wrist.

"You will be coming with me, witch." She looked at the man with teary eyes, wondering how any man could be this cruel.

"I'm not a witch." She whispered trying to fight back the sobs as she looked upon her father's broken corpse. Just then a PDF trooper walked behind her and slammed the butt of his rifle into the back of her head.

Airika awoke in a dark room. The almost impossible darkness prevented her from even seeing her hands in front of her face. Her instincts screamed for her to try and find a way out of this blackened chamber. When she started to crawl along the ground she felt bare skin touching what felt to be rockrete, she noticed suddenly that she was unclothed, and with that continued her search for an exist. Decided to stay as close to the wall as possible, as it was so dark she felt like she would lose her way in the abyss that was her cell. Just as she found the courage to stand the door slammed open letting in a light so bright that it blinded Airika and caused her to close her eyes.

"Grab the witch and take her to the Chamber."

Two faceless men in olive green robes grabbed her by the arms and began to drag her along the freezing rockcrete floor. In utter silence she was dragged past room after room, and then with a sudden stop, one of the men let her go, and opened a door. The other man picked her up and took her into the room. As Airika entered she was taken aback at the grandiosity of the Chamber. The walls were adorned with portraits of heroes, saints, and martyrs that meant so much to the Imperium. Many of these people Airika did not know, but the one she recognized instantly was the portrait of Saint Lucia. As she saw the portraits of the greatest figures to ever live in the Imperium she was filled with a religious fervor and began saying every prayer she knew.

One of the olive robbed men seemed disgusted "How dare you say his prayers witch" and with a loud crack slapped her across the face. "Sit in the chair."

She was stunned, but complied fearful of any more blows from the olive drabbed brute. As she sat in the simple chair she silently began praying to the God-Emperor for her salvation. She didn't understand why these men called her a witch or why they had taken her hostage. She didn't understand why they had killed her father or why any of this was happening. She pinched herself in hoping this was another one of her awful nightmares. But she felt the pain, and knew this was not a dream, and she inwardly wept, so as not to provoke the men to more violence. As she began to resign herself to her fate two men in bright armour walked in.

"You can't do this, she is a child! She does not even know of her powers!" The younger of the two was yelling.

The other man made his rebuttal "Inquisitor Daerius, I may do as I please. You are too quick to trust the witch; she is most likely lying and must be punished."

She realized who this man was; it was the man that had killed her father.

"How do I know she hasn't corrupted you Daerius? Should I send for the Sisters to have you examined for heresy?"

Daerius was enraged at this comment "Do not ever question my faith again you bastard" he spit at the feet of the other inquisitor "Emperor damn you, this is not how we are supposed to treat his children." And with that, the only hope of salvation for Airika stomped out the doorway, and with a violent slam she realized she was damned to a fate worse than death.

The other man walked across the room and sat in a chair behind an eloquent mahogany desk, it was the size of at least two tall men. "Alright witch, I am going to ask you some questions, and by the Emperor you better answer them honestly."

She could no longer stifle the question brewing inside of her mind; "Why do you keep calling me a witch? I have done nothing m'lord."

With a harsh chuckle the man looked at her in the eyes and said "You can't fool me witch. I know what you are." With this he began his questioning.

"What is your age?"

"14 m'lord."

"Don't call me that witch, I won't show pity on you because you think you're an imperial citizen. Just answer my questions."

"Yes sir."

"What was your father's name, and what was his occupation?"

"His name was Takoa, and he was an executive at the Manufactorum."

This seemed to pique the Inquisitors interest. She was always taught that Inquisitors always knew everything about everyone. Either he was uninformed, or he was toying with her.

He looked at her and sighed, as if to say he was bored with this game. "What kind of nightmares have you been having?"

Airika was taken aback, how did he know of her nightmares? "H-how did y-you know about my n-nightmares sir?"

He gave her a stoic look and merely said "A citizen in the neighboring hab reported strange happenings coming from your home at night and he could hear your screams."

Airika never knew she screamed at night. No one told her, and what did he mean by 'strange happenings'.

"Now tell me girl, what is in your nightmares."

She looked at him and sighed, she knew no matter what she did that she was doomed to death. "The nightmares get worse every night. Something ne always happens to make it worse."

"Tell me." Was all he said and she began.

Airika stepped on the red tiled floor. She looked up and saw nothing but black, in a room that seemed to never end. She walked down the expansive corridor, which could hold hundreds of men walking side by side. She felt like an ant in the room. She continued her journey down the long corridor until she saw a solitary figure standing there. He was a huge man with blood red Armour and pale skin. He turned around as if sensing her presence.

"Come closer child."

Airika complied and walked towards the man. She studied him, his armour was adorned in trophies of past battles, and scarred from various weapon types. Could this be one of the legendary Astartes in her dream? He turned to face and let a slight welp at the sight. Instead of the Imperial Aquilia on his armour there was an eight pointed star, along with heretical runes tattooed upon his face.

He looked at her with a gentle smile and said "My name is Magnus the Red. I am the Primarch of the Thousand Sons traitor legion."

She was frightened, and rightly so. One of the great traitors from the Horus Heresy was in her dream; But why?

"W-why are you in my dream M'lord."

He looked down upon her and said "Do you know of your powers little one?"

She shook her head. What powers was he talking about?

He sighed "It pains me to do so child, but locked deep inside of you there is a great power, and the only way to bring it out, is pain."

With that he turned on her and entered his true form, The Daemon Prince of Tzeentch. As he walked towards her, the room began to fill with blood. The Daemon picked up Airika and tossed her on the Alter that he had been standing in front of. She screamed for help, but her pleas went unanswered, and as the consumed her, the only thing that remained uncovered was her face.  
"Why are you doing this to me?" She asked the Daemon.

The Daemon looked down upon her with the look of great sadness upon his face. "Because child, you have a great power that will change the Imperium forever, and though I may have been branded a traitor by my father, though I watched Prospero, I will never stop believing in my father's belief in helping humanity. We just go about it in different ways."

As those final words were uttered from his mouth the blood consumed all of Airika and she slowly began to drown in it. The blood was filling up the olfactory glands in her nose, and drowning her lungs. Though she suffered, she would not die, the Daemon was keeping her alive. Suddenly the blood dissipated, and she was free from its clutches. She coughed and vomited the blood of her system, screaming in horror. But the Daemon was not finished with her yet. He let out an ear piercing whistle, and three cultists came out of a door in the side. On their back was a man. Dressed in black with skin as pale as bone; with a satchel at his side. The cultists put him down, and walked over to Airkia, scrubbing the blood off her skin harshly. All the while Airika was sobbing, praying that the Emperor would free her from this prison.

"Your corpse god has no power here fool." The cultist said as he cleaned her. Suddenly the cultist's head was grabbed and squished like a grape under Magnus' firm grip.

"I have always hated cultists, believing that my Father has less power than the Dark Gods is absurd. The Emperor is the pure embodiment of everything that is good and is a bright light in this universe of darkness."

Before Magnus could continue his diatribe the man in black hushed him and said in a cold steely voice "_You mussst be ssilent if you want my work to grace her mortal body."_ With that Magnus silenced himself and turned away.

Airika was about to ask why Magnus turned, when she felt a searing pain upon her chest. The black clothed man was carving chaotic runes all over her body. She had never felt pain like this before. The man was using an ancient blade with a thin and extremely sharp edge, covered in a poison that burns blood into instant coagulation. She screamed and screamed. The man was obviously starting to get agitated, but he kept working anyway.

"W-what are these markings on my s-skin?" she asked with the last of energy.

The man did not answer her question, but instead began carving on her legs.

That's when she awoke last.

"Like I said before m'lord, the dreams progressively get worse every night."

The inquisitor looked at the girl, contemplating what must be done to her. He eventually decided that he'd just execute her tomorrow.

"I see, you may return to your cell girl. I will come by tomorrow to tell you what will be done with you."

With that the men grabbed her and began to drag her back to her cell. When she returned one of the guards left, while the other remained. She looked up fearful for what was about to happen. She had heard the stories of what happened to girls in Imperial prisons. When he began to walk forward she closed her eyes awaiting the inevitable pain she was about to feel, but instead, she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry child, I won't let that bastard hurt you."

He gave her his cape and then left the room and closed the door.

Airika opened her eyes; she was back in her hole with the rats. They were sitting around her, with a look that almost looked like they were worried.

She let out a girlish giggle, "If only you guys where sentient. Then maybe I wouldn't be so lonely." This made the rats relax and go about whatever business rats did.

Airika's hunger finally got the best of her and she climbed outside the hole to go find a meal, but the minute she climbed out there was a hand on her shoulder. She recognized that hand. It was the man that had saved her.

It was Daerius.

**ALRIGHT sorry this chapter took so long to come out, but I had to do some SERIOUS editing. I had a lot of other things in this chapter and it was complete last night, but instead of posting it, I decided to go back over it. Maybe once the stories over I'll release the original chapter 6… but then again maybe not LOL. Oh yeah, I'm also gonna be starting my Katawa Shoujo Fanfic soon too so when it comes out check it out ;)**


	7. Phase 1: Covert Escape

**Alright guys here is chapter 7! I re-wrote this chapter a few different times trying to figure out the best way to say what I wanted this chapter. The stories changed a lot over the last two chapters, I've added more depth. I'd like to give a HUGE shout out to my new beta reader ****Jatnuiram****! ****His first fanfic will be coming out soon so be sure to check it out :D! **

**Quote of the Day: 'What is eternal?' …Eternal life. Eternal love. Eternal flow of time. Instinctively, they all seem wonderful, but in reality they are also cruel. -**_**Saegusa Yuki**_

Marxius realized that Airika was now deep in thought, shown by the look devoid of all expression on her face. This was the first time he ever got to actually look at her face. Unlike Vivian, who was very pretty, Airika was simply breathtaking. Her long blonde hair and deep storm grey eyes perplexed Marxius terribly. How was this beautiful, and seemingly fragile, creature have the power to save Fulgrim? His thoughts were cut short as Lord Daerius stepped through the door.

"Marxius, I see you've met Airika! This is good, now on to business."

Marxius sensed a briefing, he knew he should pay attention, but he always had a problem with briefings. As he began to lose his focus Daerius called his name.

"Marxius, I know you don't like briefings, but unlike your pointless briefings with the guard, we are actually planning. Not telling you to stand in a line and fire a weapon at some horde of enemies. We will be going deep behind the enemies lines, and if you don't know what we're doing, you're going to die and jeopardize the mission. The Emperor does not take failures lightly Corporal."

This caught his attention and he quickly sat up straight and said "Yes my lord I apologize."

Daerius, seemingly pleased, began the briefing. "During the cover of the next firefight we are going to covertly remove ourselves from the base, and meet up with my team hidden in the hills about 10 miles south of here. Once we meet up with them we will begin taking the appropriate steps to enact phase two of the plan."

Marxius raised his head and spoke up; "What is phase two of our plan my lord?"

Daerius laughed and simply replied, "You'll find out soon enough Marxius. For now your main prerogative is to stay close to Airika and keep her safe." Daerius looked over at Vivian, who Marxius had hardly noticed at all, and stated, "You received full marks in your regimental training center as a scout, that makes you the most competent scout out of us four, and perfect for taking point.

Vivian showed a great smile and happily replied, "Won't let you down sir!"

Marxius looked at her and realized she didn't really know what was going on. 'Hopefully she remains this cheerful when she does find out the true nature of our mission,' he thought to himself.

Airika finally snapped back to reality and piqued up with her soft gentle voice, "Sir an attack is imminent; We have 15 minutes to prepare ourselves."

Daerius showed a grin and said, "Loyal servants of the Emperor, gather all necessities and meet me behind the armory."

Airika looked at Marxius and showed a teasing grin, "Are you ready to go then Marxius?" She figured since this man was basically her protector she should make friends with him.

"Yeah mostly, the only problem is I don't have a weapon other than my power sword. My lasrifle was destroyed in that fight I had with the traitor marine"

He looked genuinely upset about the fact that his weapon had been destroyed. She put a hand on his shoulder and looked him in the eyes and gave him a wink, "We are meeting behind the armory… maybe you could take a new one from there?"

He obviously hadn't thought of this, and he perked up and with a smile replied, "Yeah you're right! Thanks."

After about 3 minutes of walking they reached the armory, and Marxius walked inside. He examined the multitude of lasrifles there was saddened at the fact that there were no Mars Pattern rifles what-so-ever. "Damn, looks like I'll have to take a norma- hold on what's that?" Lying next to some of the standard Cadia Pattern rifles was a lasrifle he had only seen amongst the Elysian Drop Troops. The Accatran Pattern Mark IV lasrifle! It was a smaller more compact design; he remembered one of the drop troops called it a 'Bullpup' design. It had an attached flashlight and seemed much better for medium range engagements unlike the standard or Mars pattern rifles he was accustomed too. He picked up the rifle, and noticed how light it was, which put a grin on his face. Now he could bring extra supplies. As he exited the armory he saw everyone was looking agitated and finally heard the sounds of the basilisk raining death upon the cultists.

"Sorry, I found a very rare lasrifle for these parts and couldn't help myself from basking in its glory."

The inquisitor gave out a loud 'GUFFAW' and then motioned for them to start moving toward their intended destination. But suddenly the inquisitor motioned for a stop and sighed. "It seems that our covert escape isn't going to be easy." Everyone looked at him and asked at the same time;

"Why?"

He simply motioned them forward and pointed towards the mighty basilisks.

While the cultists led the charge, the traitor marines had come from the back in a classic pincer movement, almost like the same one that the ancient 'Jermens' of Holy Terra had done in two wars to another human country called 'Fanse'.

Vivian decided to speak up at this point and said, "I know an alternative route, but it will make our journey to the encampment longer."

Daerius looked at her and nodded and replied, "Lead the way scout."

As Vivian began to backtrack she suddenly turned sharply at the Valkyrie landing pads. Behind them were giant storage crates that were once filled with supplies, but now lay empty waiting to be re used or scrapped. Vivian suddenly stopped and said "Marxius did you bring the plasma torch with you?"

Marxius looked at her and nodded in sudden understanding. As he was cutting a path through the crates Vivian looked at Daerius and said "Once we get through these crates there we have a straight shot to your squad's encampment."

Daerius looked at her in confusion "I thought you said it would take longer?"

Vivian smiled and giggled "Yeah because it's gonna take like ten minutes for Marxius to cut through all that steel! That adds on an extra ten minutes!"

Airika let out a snort and said "Her logic is impeccable Daerius."

Daerius, looking amused, said "Aye it is."

But before he could continue Marxius yelled for them to hurry through the breach in the containers. "C'mon guys let's get movin!"

Marxius, waited for everyone to shuffle through the hole, and then he went in behind them. As he was standing just a few feet behind Airika he could smell a delightful sent coming from her hair. He wondered what it was. Without stopping Airika said;

"_Apple Cinnamon_."

Marxius had forgotten that she could read minds, and instead of responding just focused on his duty of keeping her safe. When they were all standing outside the crates Vivian started heading in the direction of their intended destination. After about 10 minutes a roar was heard by Marxius.

"Did you guys hear that?" Marxius asked.

Daerius looked amused "If you had paid attention on your briefings before coming planet side you'd know of the few native species to this planet are a group of carnivorous super-predators. There are only 10 on the planet and they wonder the deserts and jungles searching for prey. That might have been one of them."

Marxius shuddered, he didn't mind fighting cultists or even a traitor marine, but he Fuc*ing HATED animals.

Airika grabbed onto his arm in fear, apparently she didn't like the sound of super-predators either. "Don't worry Airika, I'll keep you safe," he said with a smile.

She looked up and made eye contact with him and then quickly looked to ground blushing. "Th-Thank you."

As they carried on with their journey they heard a sound that they had hoped to avoid with just four people. Over the next hill was a group of about 15 cultists. Daerius looked at Marxius and said "You and I will charge them head on. The girls will stay and provide over-watch, give Airika your lasrifle."

Marxius complied and drew his power sword. They silently moved to a position on the hill where their momentum would prove fortuitous in a charge. Daerius looked at him and nodded.

"FOR THE EMPEROR!"

The two men charged down the hill screaming their battle cries, while the women fired las-fire into their ranks. Marxius collided with a cultist with his shoulder and proceeded to gut him while he was on the ground. The inquisitor hacking the puny cultists to shreds as their shoddy weapons couldn't even make a dent in his blessed power armor Marxius was kicked in the gut and fell to the ground. Winded, he barely dodged the hack the cultist had made at his head with his sword. Marxius kicked the cultist in the knee and then stood himself up and stabbed the foul heretic through his throat. With the las-fire stopping for a moment, a wounded cultist took advantage of the lull in the skirmish and ran at Marxius, but Marxius was faster and as he spun towards the cultist, he slashed the damned fool across his gut, causing his bodily fluids and entrails to spill out through the slice across his stomach. Marxius kicked him to the ground.

"You fought well boy, your skill with a blade is unexpected for a guardsmen." Daerius said.

Marxius was taken aback from the compliment but regained his composure quickly. "My uncle brought great fortune to our family, as he is the owner of the company that mines all the adamantium on Ponitc. Because of this I was taught to fence, and then Magos of Pontic forged this blade for me himself."

Unlike most power swords, his was not of the double edged design, but instead based on a weapon from a great culture of warriors back on ancient Terra. This version of sword was so sharp and pristine it could slice a man in half with little effort. With a single bladed edge, and a flat edge on one side, it was perfect for slashing and stabbing.

"It is of a most unique design, it seems to be much for efficient than the standard blades seen around the rest of the Imperium."

"Aye that's what the Magos said as well."

With their conversation over Daerius motioned for the girls and they decided to run for as long as they could to escape the slaughter left in their wake. After about 20 minutes of running Airika was beginning to look exhausted. With his and Vivian's extensive training he knew they could continue this pace for another hour or so, and the inquisitor was not even breaking a sweat. Marxius handed his lasrifle to Vivian, and decided to put Airika on his back. He was surprised at how light she was, he had carried rucksacks in training heavier than her. She didn't halt his pace even a little.

"Thank you," She whispered in his ear.

"Alright we should be nearing the camp soon," Daerius said breaking the hour long silence that had taken effect during the hour long run.

Marxius looked at him and said "How much further?"

Daerius let out another one of his famous 'GUFFAWs' and said, "Literally right behind that rock formation over there."

They decided to walk the rest of the way and Marxius put Airika down. As they neared the campsite Marxius could smell food being cooked and the sounds of men laughing joyously.

"Hail Lord Daerius!" One of the men yelled.

"Hail Scythios! Is that food I smell?!"

"Indeed it is sir; you and your friends are just in time for the meal!"

"Excellent!"

As Daerius, and Vivian marched into the camp, Airika pulled Marxius aside and planted a warm gentle kiss on his cheek. She giggled and said, "Thanks again for carrying me Marxius." And she ran to catch up with Daerius and Vivian.

Marxius was beaming as he marched into the camp behind the others and seated himself at the open spot beside Scythios when he saw a familiar face…

"By the Emperor! Is that you Caspian?!"

Caspian turned to look at the voice saying his name and then smiled instantly, "Cousin Marxius? Is that you? What the hell are you doing here?!"

Marxius laughed and said "I should be asking you the same damn question; I haven't seen you in years."

He smiled "Aye it's been awhile, I was handpicked to be one of Inquisitor Daerius' shock-troopers. It was an opportunity I could not possibly turn up."

Marxius nodded, "It will be good to fight by your side Cousin."

As they began to eat Caspian introduced the other two troopers in the group; a sniper named Makandros, who was very quiet but also had a great sense of humor, and Tark, their Chimera driver.

"What's it like driving a Chimera?" Marxius asked him.

Tark sighed and replied "Sh*t. Every time I drop off a squad I feel a pang of guilt knowing I took those boys and girls to their deaths, and left them there. That's why I volunteered for this mission; I won't leave you guys to die; I can promise you that."

Marxius nodded in understanding and put his hand on Tark's shoulder, "It's good to have you with us comrade."

Tark laughed, "Likewise brother."

The rest of the meal was filled with the happy voices of everyone sharing war stories, especially Vivian. But Marxius didn't feel like boasting with the rest of the troops, instead he eyed Airika. Before he seemed he was bound to have a relationship with Vivian, but she told him that she wasn't interested and they were only friends. But now, this mysterious beautiful woman he knew nothing about was all he could think about. 'Get her out of your head you idiot, focus on the mission,' but as he thought about it more he realized she was the mission, so he made an inward promise that he'd keep her safe no matter the cost. That was when he noticed she was staring at him, and he smiled. She smiled back but then quickly looked away. Suddenly he was ripped from his train of thought.

"Alright, everybody get some rest," Daerius suddenly stated. "Tomorrow phase 2 begins."

**Hope you guys enjoyed this! Jatnuiram and I worked pretty hard on this. This chapter didn't include much in the ways of horror, but next chapter expect A LOT of horror. Like srs that'll be the whole damn chapter. :P until then! **


	8. Phase 2 part 1: The Accident

**Okay so this chapters a little weird, I hope you guys like it. Again I'd like to give a shout out to my beta reader Jatnuiram. Check out his story, "The Fate of Cardisan V" the prologue is up and it's tight!**

**Quote of the Day: "Where I fall ten more shall take my place! And one-hundred each of them! So strike me down! I am the harbinger!" -Saint Ollanius Pius, whilst fighting** **Warmaster Horus**

Daerius was lying awake staring at the sky contemplating the gravity of the situation they were all in. He wasn't too confident in the abilities of his 'elite' shock troopers. He told them they were picked for their astounding record, which was partially true, but it was mainly due to the fact they had no immediate family that would suffer once they died. What worried him the most though, was how intimate Airika and Marxius' relationship was becoming. He didn't want to disrupt something that made Airika seem so happy, because she deserved happiness after all the atrocities she had been through. His main point of concern on the matter though, could she do what must be done, when the time comes?

Marxius awoke from his much needed rest. After that full melee from the day before he was exhausted. How in the world does the inquisitor manage doing it all the time?

"Hey there sleepy head! Did you sleep well?"

Marxius looked up at the loud cheerful voice assaulting his ears like a Noise Marine. It was Airika.

He yawned and replied, "Oh hey Airika, I slept fine. How about Yourself?"

She gave a big smile and happily announced "I slept great! I'm excited to see what phase two is!"

'Phase Two.' This kept popping up, and Marxius was beginning to worry. What exactly WAS phase two? Hopefully it involved a little more tact than sprinting through the desert slaughtering cultists. All Marxius wanted to do was complete his mission assigned to him by The Emperor.

"Hey Airika, I'll meet you outside in a minute. I need to get ready." Marxius was waiting for her to leave the room to get out of bed. She simply nodded and waited outside the door. He stood up and got ready. As he put on his Flak Vest he began to wonder how this flimsy plassteel or some other fibrous alloy, could this protect him against the heretical lasguns of the traitors, let alone anything else? No matter, if this armor wouldn't protect him, His faith would.

"Are you ready yet? It's been like 5 minutes! Aren't guardsmen supposed to be punctual?" Airika teased.

"Yeah I am, be there in a second," he yelled as he strapped his power sword to his hip. As he walked out of the tent he saw everyone else was preparing for the briefing.

He saw his cousin and shouted, "Hey Caspian, do you know anything about phase two?"

But before Caspian could answer Daerius walked out of his tent and gave him a serious look.

"No one knows anything; looks like you're going to have to pay attention Marxius."

He nodded and took his seat beside Airika. Once everyone else was seated Daerius decided to finally share his secret plan with the rest of his troops. He eyed them all and sighed.

"What I am about to tell you is going to make me seem like some damned evil bastard. But know this, the members of the Inquisition only do what is best for the Imperium. Every life we send to the slaughter, every exterminatus, everything is for the Imperium. That's why I took control of the army from the general and ordered a frontal assault on the enemy."

Marxius and the rest of the guardsmen were confused, frontal assaults were normal for the Imperial Guard. Why was this different?

Daerius noticed the lack of understanding in their eyes and sighed. "I ordered the assault knowing full well that every single guardsman in that army is going to be slaughtered. The Emperor's children are not alone in this fight. The Thousand Sons legion are here, led by Magnus himself."

Marxius noticed Airika wince at the name, and was shocked. "Airika are you okay?"

She looked up at him and forced a fake smile, "yeah Marxius I'm fine, don't worry about me." She looked down at the ground and refused to say another word.

"The reason I ordered this to happen, was so that the daemons and traitor legions would be so focused on the battle, that it'd make our mission a little easier, increasing the chances we make it to Fulgrim alive."

All the guardsmen were silent; Marxius and Vivian looked especially downtrodden. All of their friends, the people they had lived with for most of their lives; were going to die. All so that Marxius and Airika could reach Fulgrim.

Daerius gave a serious face and sternly stated, "a few hundred thousand lives, to save billions more, is nothing. These people give their lives for the Emperor, and give their lives for the Imperium. We cannot let their sacrifice go to waste by failing our mission. Am I understood?"

Everyone remained silent, waiting for something to happen. Suddenly Marxius stood up from his seat and asked;

"What's the plan Lord Inquisitor?"

Daerius smiled and replied, "Something even Creed would be proud of."

As they all sat in the Chimera Scythios decided to end the silence.

"Hey Vivian, how long have you and Marxius known each other?"

Caspian picked his head and smiled "Yeah since when does my cousin surround himself with not one, but TWO beautiful women?"

Vivian laughed and said "I've known Marxius since he was shipped back from the training centers back on Pontic to fill in as a replacement in my squad. Months of traveling in the warp gave us time to get know one another. If it wasn't for me this guy wouldn't have last a day out in the breach."

Caspian nodded and gave a sly menacing look at Marxius "Yeah he's always been a bit of a wuss, the only manly thing he ever did was play with his swords. I'm amazed he signed up for the guard."

Marxius had an enough of this belittlement and snapped back, "I know full well I'm not the big tough Ogryn you are Caspian!" He lowered his voice into a more serious tone "besides I didn't sign up. I was drafted, they said that Abbadon launched another crusade and they needed all the bodies they could get."

Airika looked at Marxius and smiled. That's why she liked him so much; he was honest and didn't try to act like he was a hero. He was just a man fighting to get home again. At this thought she grew sad because she knew he'd never see home again…

Suddenly Tark screamed "EVERYONE BRACE YOURSELVE-"

He never finished his sentence, as an explosion rocked the chimera causing it to continuously roll until it came it to sudden stop. The hold was filled with smoke and silent. Marxius feared the worst.

"Is everyone alright?" He shouted into the haze.

Grunts and moans were the response from everyone else in the hold. Then Daerius shouted;

"Tark, damage report!"

Silence

"TARK!"

Tark lay in the driver seat of the chimera with the steering column impaled through his chest whilst his blood decorated the dash and shattered window.

"EVERYONE DISEMBARK AND TAKE UP FIRING POSITIONS!" Daerius screamed to his men.

When the troopers exited the hold, it was a completely different world. Just 50 meters away was the battlefield the ground littered with the mutilated corpses of guardsmen and cultists. There seemed to be no immediate danger in the area, Marxius assumed a stray rocket or basilisk shell caused the crash.

"We can mourn our fallen comrade later, for now we must make haste, the enemy could be upon us at any moment."

Daerius' words broke the daze of the troopers and they began their hurried run towards the enemy base. Marxius turned around to see Airika was lagging behind and decided to slow his pace.

"Don't worry Airika I got your six, just keep running!"

As the troopers neared the first enemy camp, which was only guarded by cultists, Daerius whispered, "Remember the plan men."

Airika, Vivian, and Caspian sat behind cover as Daerius, Marxius, and Scythios drew their blades. When Daerius felt like everyone was prepared he charged forward.

Vivian and Caspian began firing into the cultists with their rifles into the cultists, and with a sudden crack, two lasbolts felled two of the cultists. Before the cultists had time to react however, the three charging men were already upon them. With a quick slash downwards Daerius left a gash in the chest in the nearest foe whilst Scythios slammed the pommel of his blade into the face of another. Marxius on the other hand was not so lucky and was thrown of balance and tripped into the cultist. He tucked his arms in and attempted to roll but another cultist had thrown himself onto Marxius' back stabbing him the shoulder. With a groan of pain he elbowed the heretic in the face, knocking him off. He held his sword one handed, adrenaline kicking in, and managed to ignore the pain while stabbing the cultist in the gut with his blade. He then turned to face another enemy, a larger hulking enemy, in black and purple armour. The huge man threw him to the ground and was about to end the fight before it even truly began, but then a shout resonated throughout the camp.

"MARXIUS!"

It was Airika. She knew her orders were to stay hidden but she wouldn't let her friend die. She sprinted towards the giant and screamed "YOU WILL NOT HARM HIM!"

Suddenly bolts of psychic energy shot towards the man, entangling him and lifted him in the air. As the brute attempted to break the hold his skin started to melt and his armour turned red hot. The heretics armour fell to ground filled with a puddle of blood and melted skin. Airika tumbled to the ground exhausted, and Marxius tried to rise to help her, but the pain of the shoulder wound was too much, and could only crawl. Before he had moved even a meter he started blacking out.

"The damned fool almost ruined the mission!"

Someone was yelling. But who? Marxius couldn't place the voice.

"He was wounded Scythios, if I remember correctly you screamed in pain when you took a lasbolt to the foot 3 years ago."

The yelling voice faltered a little "How the hell did you know that? You weren't there!"

A girlish giggle, wait, Airika? "I'm a Pysker remember? I read your mind and learned of it. Now leave him alone you damn hypocrite."

With a mumble he left, "filthy witch."

Marxius felt a hand on his chest. "I hope you're okay Marxius. You're the only friend I have, and I care about you more than you'll ever know. Just don't die.."

With that Marxius drifted into unconsciousness.

"Wake up Marxius. It's me, Daerius, and I need to speak to you."

Marxius suddenly jolted awake and looked at the inquisitor alarmingly, "what happened?"

The inquisitor looked at him calmingly "You were wounded. Don't worry, you should be fine. It wasn't as bad as we thought."

Marxius nodded and said, "What do you need to speak to me about sir?"

Daerius took a serious tone and replied, "Everyone makes a mistake Marxius, but you cannot afford to. This mission is relying upon you to succeed. Next time I won't tolerate you tripping in combat and endangering the lives of everyone else. This is your one warning boy. Next time you'll surely die, and the Emperor does NOT take failure lightly. Am I clear?"

"Yes sir, you are."

He smiled, "good! Now get up and get outside to let your comrades know you're not dead. We leave tomorrow. We found the entrance to the Primarch's meeting place. Magnus is currently busy with the front, so tomorrow is our only chance to get to Fulgrim."

With that he left the room and Marxius pondered the gravity of his mistake. One little misstep almost cost the mission, Marxius vowed to never let this happen again. He stepped out of the tent and saw everyone sitting around a fire and discussing the events of yesterday. Marxius stepped up to the group and sighed.

"I'm sorry for what happened back there."

Everyone looked and him and laughed. Marxius was confused until Caspian spoke up.

"It's fine. It was damn hilarious to watch, especially when you dripped."

Marxius laughed it off and sat down. Airika quickly came and sat down and handed him a plate.

"Eat up, you look starved."

He happily obliged, and when he finished he sighed, "thank you."

Airika looked at him puzzled. "It was only a plate of food."

This caught Marxius off guard and he chuckled, "no I meant about saving my life."

She smiled, "oh that, yeah you owe me big time for that. I'm not supposed to use any of my powers until we confront Fulgrim, lest Magnus finds out about us."

He was taken aback, "what do you mean owe you? I don't really have anything to give you."

She looked at him with a wicked smile, "there is something. You'll figure it out later though."

With that she fell silent and just looked into the fire. Marxius decided not to press the matter and joined in the conversation. After a few minutes though, he started to feel tired.

Marxius stood up and announced "Alright everyone I'm tired, I'll see you tomorrow." With that Marxius went back to his tent and slept.

_Marxius_

Marxius turned around and saw the image of Malcador.

_I've come to deliver a warning Marxius. Be wary my friend, for you are nearing the moment the moment in which you will prove yourself worthy to the Emperor._

'Do you mean my fight with Fulgrim?'

_No my friend, that is much further away than you think. Tomorrow, when you go into the tunnels, you are going to a face a different enemy. The Chaos god Tzneetch has taken notice of your mission and sent one of his servants to repel you. This is unbecoming of him, so be on your guard._

'Thank you for the warning Malacador.'

_No thanks are needed, I am simply here to see you succeed. Now awake, you have a visitor._

'Wait! I have questions, don't leave yet!' But Malcador turned his back anyway and snapped his fingers.

Marxius was jolted awake by some strange force from his dream; sluggishly he called out, "hello? Who's there?"

"It's me. I had one of my nightmares, and I can't sleep."

Marxius looked up and saw Airika standing in the entrance to his tent. She had a frightened look upon her face.

Marxius sat up and with a gentle look on his face motioned for her to sit down. "You can stay here tonight."

She looked at him and gave a forced smile. "Thanks."

As she lay on the bed, Marxius was standing up to get the cot from his pack. He'd be fine with sleeping on the ground for one night.

"You don't have to sleep on the ground. Lay down with me and keep me company. Back on Cadia, I use to sleep in a hole in the side of a bar. I shared the hole with rats, and whenever I was frightened they'd curl up next to me. It always made me feel safe."

Marxius looked down at the girl. He hadn't known about that, truthfully he knew nothing about her. But in the truth, he felt as if he didn't need to know about her past. He cared about her all the same.

"I've never had any human comfort me like the rats did before. Even though I wasn't one of them… they showed me more empathy than any human ever did." She stopped and looked at him "until I met you anyway. You're always nice to me."

This depressed Marxius greatly. On his homeworld there were no Pyskers. He'd always assumed they were treated like kings for their power, but she just proved him wrong. So Marxius laid in the bed next to Airika and kissed her on the cheek.

"Go to sleep, I'll be here if you get scared."

She looked at him and smiled and put her head on his chest and fell asleep. For the first time in months Marxius felt safe.

**I hope you guys like that chapter. This chapter's main purpose was to set the stage for the massive amount of Grimdark nonsense that's going to happen next chapter. There will be much joyous heresy and betrayal and slaughter! WOO! :D**


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